This invention relates generally to loans, and more specifically, to managing such loans, both collateral based and non-collateral based, including predicting cash inflow, expenses and income.
Determining whether to acquire a portfolio of collateral based loans requires determining a value of the portfolio. The portfolio typically has an initial value, and over a period of time, e.g., 5 years, most all of the loans should be paid off. The value of the portfolio is directly related to how quickly the loans will be paid off, i.e., cash flow, and how much income will be generated from the portfolio.
The analysis required in order to determine the initial value, cash flow, and income can be difficult and tedious. For example, each loan must be analyzed and information regarding each borrower (e.g., payment history) must be considered in determining whether, or how likely it is, that the borrower will make a payment in any given month. In a loan portfolio including several thousand loans, such analysis is time consuming.
Also, in volatile markets which are not very predictable and in which less than complete data is available, predicting collections of loans is more difficult than in more stable markets. Collateral based loan portfolios, however, sometimes become available for purchase in more volatile markets. Using models for stable markets in valuing a distressed portfolio in a volatile market may result in significantly over-valuing the distressed portfolio.